The U.S. Association for Blind Athletes (USABA) and Rutgers University’s Department of Kinesiology and Health and Center for Disability Sports, Health and Wellness, in partnership with Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, is hosting a blind soccer coaching summit. Physical education teachers working with blind students and adaptive sports organizations from more than ten states as well as coaches and team members from the USA Blind Soccer Men’s National Team are attending. The event takes place today, August 4, and tomorrow, August 5, 2023. “’The goal of this groundbreaking summit is to introduce the sport, along with best practices for teaching basic blind soccer skills to youth and adult adaptive sports programs all over the country,’” stated USABA Blind Soccer Coordinator Katie Smith. “’We also want participants to leave this event feeling prepared to coach from a grassroots level and beyond.’” Blind soccer, an adaptation of soccer for athletes with a vision impairment, debuted at the Athens 2004 Paralympics. Also known as blind football, the sport has become the fastest-growing Paralympic sport worldwide, played in more than 60 countries. The U.S. has not yet played a blind soccer team at the Paralympics, but will join in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, as noted in a previous issue of this Bulletin. In 2022, the first USA Blind Soccer Men’s National Team was named and began international play earlier this year. Read the article from endurance sportswire for additional details, including a list of participants, in the coverage entitled “Rutgers University to Host Blind Soccer National Coaching Summit.” For more information about the growth of blind soccer, visit the USABA website.
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